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Mar 6, 2013

New Versus Old School Longboarding

Longboarding is the oldest form of surfing, however since the sport was first invented, longboarding has evolved immensely. Old School longboarding was all about style, fluidity, and movement around the board. Old School longboarders used the face of waves to glide across the water, never taking more than they needed to. Old School longboarders showed off with hang 10s and cross steps.

Today, longboarding has taken a turn and another school of the sport has evolved: new school longboarding. New school longboarding is a hybrid of shortboarding and longboarding; movements are more frantic and fidgety, and surfers slash through the whole wave. New school longboarders boast about sharp snaps and deep cut backs. They want to get as deep as possible in barrels, and try to launch of the lip of rampy section. To me, it seems to betray what longboarding once stood for. As a shortboarder, I say simply: get a smaller board, dudes. Here are some photos of both styles of longboarding, old, new and hybrids of both. See the video at the bottom of the post to watch the beginnings of the fusion between old school and new school longboarding.